Romanian Law (Animal welfare) - English Translation

Art.1-(1)This law stipulate necessary measures to assure conditions of life and welfare of the animals with or without owner.

(2) Managing of the stray dogs population from the territory of Romania is made by specific legislation.

Art. 2 - Through this law, animals keeper means the owner, the person that keep an animal with any available title, as well as any physical or juridical person who care the animal.

Art. 3 - Animal owners have the obligation to ensure the application of the sanitary veterinary and zoo hygiene laws concerning the sheltering, feeding, caring, reproduction, exploitation and those concerning animals protection and welfare.

Art. 4- The owners have the obligation to have a behavior without brutality against animals, to assure the elementary conditions necessary to the breeding as well as to not abandon or to turn out the animals.

Art.5 -(1)Animals owners have the obligation to provide for the animals, considering their ethologic, specie, race, sex, age, production category, the following:

a proper shelter

enough food and water

enough space to move

carre and attention

medical assistance

(2) For animal owners is forbidden to apply bad treatments and cruelties.

Art. 6 -(1) Through this law, bad treatment means brutal behavior, abusing to use animals, supposing the animals to inutile efforts and not assure the conditions of article 5, paragraph (1)

(2)Through this law, cruelty against animalsmeans:

killing animals, with intention

practicing the animals shooting on domestic or wild animals

organizing fights between or with animals

using alive animals to train animals or control their aggressive behavior

using animals for exhibitions, shows, advertising, films or similar purposesif these activities entail to the animals physical or psychical suffering, diseases or wounds

abandoning an animal of whom existence depends on man’s care

administer substances to stimulate physical capacities of the animals, during competitions, as doping

mistreating and torturing of the animals

surgical operations for the purpose of modifying the appearance of a pet animal or for other non curative purposes: the docking of tails,the cropping of ears, devocalization, declawing and defanging.

entailing physical or psychological suffering through different ways

separating the puppies of their mom during the first eight weeks of life

catching of animals by another methods than the legal ones

using of tranquilizer guns for another situation than to immobilize the animals

Art. 6’ -The abandonis to leave an animal who is in charge of humane propriety and care, on public domain, without food, shelter and medical treatment.

Art. 7 -Animals used in experimental purposes must have specific protection norms, without cause unnecessary suffering.

Art.7’ -It is prohibit the euthanasia of dogs, cats or other animals, excepting animals with incurable maladies, ascertained by veterinary doctor.

(2)Conditions of keeping, sheltering and care of the animals are settled through an Order of National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority President.

CHAPTER II

Conditions concerning animal’s keeping

Art. 9 -(1) Animals owners can keep wild animals, in conformity with the law, only if they are authorized by the Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Direction of the county respectively of the Bucharest.

(2)Conditions for keeping wild animals are settled by the order of minister of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Developmentat the proposal of National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority.

(3)The owners can keep wild animals for a determined period in view of care and physical recover, for the animals who are in dangerous from survival point of view, with the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority agreement.

Art. 10 -(1)Animals’ owners have the obligation to care and to adequately treat a sick or hurt animal.

(2)National Veterinary Authority can order the slaughtering or the killing of a sick or hurt animal for sparing it of unnecessary physical or psychical sufferance, within the conditions settled through a order of the president of National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority.

(3)The foresights from paragraphs (1) and (2) are not applied for the animals used in scientific purposes or in other experimental purposes.

Art. 11 -Animal owners who selects an animal for reproduction(breeding) have the obligation to respect the anatomical, physiologi­cal and behaviou­ral characteristics of the species and race, thus the performances, the health and the welfare of the offspring should be not compromised.

Art. 12 -The person who contribute at in training of an animal have the obligation to use training ways that will not cause physical or psychological traumas as well as to use methods which are not detrimental to health or welfare of the animal.

CHAPTER III

Conditions concerning animals trade, animals transport as well as using the animals in advertising purpose, shows, exhibitions, competitions and similar events

Art. 13- National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authorityfrom consideration concerning animal protection and conservation of the species from the Romanian territory, can impose some conditions, as well as limit or prohibit import, export, transit and trade of the animals, taking into consideration the community settlements.

Art. 14- (1)Transporters have the obligation to transport the animals in adequate conditions, function of species, physiologi­cal state, sex, age, production category, to avoid harming or physical and/or psychological exhausting of the animals.

(2) Conditions concerning animals’ transportation are settled through the order of the president of National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority.

Art. 15-Animals can be used in advertising purpose, in shows, exhibitions, competitions or other similar events, only if:

a) the organizer assure the conditions mentioned at the art.5;

b) the animals' health and welfare are not put at risk.

Art. 16 - (1)During the competitions or with other occasions it is forbidden to administrate substances to the animals or to use any procedures for the purpose of increasing or decreasing its natural level of perfor­mance.

(2)Commission for organizing the competitions and/or arbitration will obligatory include a representative of animals protection organizations.

(2) Surgical interventions can be carried out under local or general anesthesia, and only by the veterinarians.

(2¹) Surgical interventions have to be be carried out in authorized places, excepting the situations when the intervention has to be made in the place where the animal is.

(3)Medical interventions which can produce pain to animal shall be carried out by a veterianian.

Art. 18 - Exceptions from art 17, paragraph (2) in cases of animals used for scientific purposes or another experimental purposes, surgeries or other treatments can be made by another persons who have necessary qualify.

CHAPTER V

Sacrificing and killing of animals

Art. 19- The animals will not be subjected to the useless suffering in case of sacrificing or killing.

Art. 20 - Sacrificing and killing of animals will be made in accordance with the specific laws.

Art. 21 - The dispositions of the article 20 are not applied to the animals that, because of accidents or illness, have to be immediately sacrificed of killed.

CHAPTER VI

Using of animals in scientific or experimental purposes

Art. 22 - Animals can be used for scientific researches, diagnosing of an illness, producing of some medicines or biological products when the purpose of the activity cannot be reached through other methods that don’t supposed using of the animals

CHAPTER VII

Sanctions

Art. 23 - (1)There are considered contraventions the following facts:

a) inobservance of art 12 dispositions;

b) inobservance of art. 5, paragraph (1) dispositions

c) suppose an animal to bad treatments

d) inobservance of art.26, paragraph (3)

e) suppose an animal to cruelties

(1)’There are constituting penal offenses the following facts:

a) keeping and trading of wild animals by not authorized physical or juridical persons, excepting of zoos;

b) using the animals for mendicity, in view of getting undeserved benefits

c) facts mentioned at article 6

d) organizing fights between or with animals

e) using alive animals to train other animals or to control their aggressiveness

(2)The contraventions settled at paragraph (1) are sanctioned as follow:

those from letter a) with prison from one month to one year or with penal fine from 500 lei (about 125 Euro) to 10 000 (about 2500 Euro) and animals are being confiscated.

those from letter b) with prison from 3 months to one year or with penal fine from 500 lei (about 125 Euro ) to 6000 lei (about 1500 Euro) and animals are being confiscated.

those from letter c) with prison from 6 months to 3 years or with penal fine from 1000 lei (250 Euro) to 10 000 (2500 Euro) and animal’s confiscate.

those from letter d) with prison from 3 months to one year or with penal fine from 1000 lei (250 Euro) la 2000 lei (500 Euro) and animal’s confiscate;

those from letter e) with prison from 3 months to one year or with penal fine from 500 lei (125 Euro) to 2000 lei (500 Euro) and animal’s confiscate.

Art. 24 -In cases of committing for two times of facts from art. 23 paragraph (1) lit (a) and (b) by the animals’ owner, next to the contravention fine, the animals are confiscated. In this case, all animals will be accommodated in shelters of the local councils, in view of adoptions or to turn to account, in law conditions.

Art. 24’- In case of a penal offence is found out, the law court can dispose to owner prohibit to keep animals for a period of 5 years.

Art. 25- (1)Finding of the contraventions and applying of the sanctions are made by authorized persons from National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authorityand from Ministry of Administration and Interior.

(2)The offender can pay offhand or within maximum 48 hours since the date of official report signing, or after case, since the date of announcing it, half from the minimum fine mentioned at art. 23 paragraph (2); the agent has to mention this possibility in the official report.

(3)The dispositions of the Government Ordinance no 2/2001 concerning the juridical regime of contraventions, approved by the Law no.180/2002, are applicable for the contraventions mentioned at the art. 23.

CHAPTER VIII

Final dispositions

Art. 26 - (1)National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, Ministry of Administration and Interior, through specialized institutions, with animals protection organizations are supervising the apply of this law.

(2)To aplly the dispositions of the present law, the persons authorized in accordance with their attributions from National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority and Ministry of Administration and Interior, have access in buildings, shelters and other places where the animals are kept, as well as, the right to ask for any information and documents necessary for controlling and to take proofs in view of research and laboratory analysis.

(3)In case when the animals are kept at the residence of the owners, the access of the persons mentioned at paragraph (2) in this space is made with the owner’s approval. Failing an agreement access, the animal owner is obliged to prove he respects the dispositions from article 5.

Art. 26’ - Methodological Norms to apply the present law are approved within 60 days, by a common Order of Administration and Interior minister, and National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, with consulting of animals protection organizations representatives.

Art. 27 - Orders from article 8, paragraph (2), article 9, paragraph (2), and article 14 paragraph (2) are issued within a period of 6 months from the publication date of the present law in Official Monitory of Romania, Part. 1.

(2)Ministry of Education, Research and Youth, within the civic education classes, will promote actions of animals protection.

Art. 28 - The present law will become effective 10 days after the date of its publishing in Official Monitory of Romania, Part I.

*in conformity with art.6 from din Government Ordinance no. 42/2004, approved by Law no. 215/2004, National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority is settled through reorganizing of Romanian Agency for Food Safety, of National Sanitary Veterinary Agency from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural development, and also of some structure from the same Ministry.

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We help,rescue and re-home the most vulnerable in Romania, Bulgaria,Croatia and Hungary. Those that are abused,neglected and forgotten ..The strays of Eastern Europe
The public need to be kept up to date with current events in Romania , to learn fro themselves what these animals are up against. Hence A.F.R.A www.actionforromaniananimals.com was born. This is the internet only aspect of our charity, solely for promoting the very real, very horrific plight of animals in Romania.